flatbed

When you need to scan really large documents, camera setups can get pretty expensive. There are professionals that do it, but they are fairly pricey too. What if you need to do it on the cheap? A flatbed scanner would be perfect, but the lip on the edge of most flatbed scanners keeps the document from touching the platen properly. [Matthew] decided to hack his Canon LiDE 90 scanner to use it in a face-down format. By removing the top of the case, and making a couple extra tweaks, the scanner can now lay flat and simply be moved in a grid.

Once you have the images, you’ll need a way to stitch them together. [Matthew] points to this tutorial, but he awesomely decided to write a little Python script to make it all happen automatically. We imagine that script might be useful for more than just this project.

We’ve seen someother scanners recently, but this one is probably the easiest for the majority of hobbyists to achieve with parts on hand.

This pickup truck to flatbed conversion is very impressive. [Caswell_Etheredge] says he was channeling his inner redneck. That must mean rednecks in his area are craftsmen of the highest caliber.

He wanted a bit more flexibility on the size and shape of the cargo he was able to haul. Just six lag bolts held the original stamped steel bed on the truck. A bit of work with a pipe and a breaker bar did the trick. A mess of packed on mud and grime was there to greet him. After chipping, vacuuming, and power washing the underbody he gave it a fresh paint job using an undercoating product.

From there the wood flatbed build starts, and he’s not messing around with scrap wood. What you can see of the bed is fashioned from cedar and ipe. The underpinnings which fasten to the frame with those same six lag bolts are pressure treated 2×4 boards. The 4×6 bumper includes the license plate and lights for it. Brake and turn signals are built into the bed along with cleats for easy fastening of a tarp or to secure the cargo.